u 


A. 


TRANSACTIONS  OF 
THE  NEW  YORK  ELECTRICAL  SOCIETY 


WEftPlAN 


OFTHB 


cm 


A  PAPER 

BEAD  BEFORE  THE 


OFTHB 

NEW  YORK 
ELECTBICAL  SOCffiTl 

«JAN.15,1902 


EA.CPEHRINE3).SC 


Transactions    of    the 

New  York  Electrical  Society 

Power     Plants     of    the 
Pacific     Coast 

By   F.  A.  C.   Perrine,   D.  Sc. 


A   Paper  read   before  the  22Oth   Meeting 
January    I5th,    1902 


Number   Seven 


Copyrighted,   1902 

By  the  New  York  Electrical  Society 

114  Liberty  Street 

New  York 


THE 

S.K.C.  SYSTEM 

OF  LONG  DISTANCE  ELECTRIC  TRANSMlSSIO 
IN  CALIFORNIA 

STANDARD  ELECTRIC  CD'S  LINES 
BAY  COUNTIES  POWER  CO'S  LINES 
Railroads 

SCALE    OF    MI1_ES 


Copynght  1901.  b,  St.nle,  El.ctnc  Mf*.  C 


From  Colgate  to  Oakland,  where  the  Bay  Counties  line  ends,  is  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  (152)  miles. 
From  Oakland  to  San  Francisco  by  way  of  the  Standard  Company's  line  is  seventy  (70)  miles.  The  tying-in  at 
Oakland  gives  therefore  a  transmission  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  (222)  miles  from  Colgate  to  San 

Francisco.     Power  is  taken  backward,  so  to  speak,  from   Mission   San   Jose  over  the   Electra  line  as  far  as 

• 
Stockton.     Here,  energy  aggregating  several  thousand  horse-power  is  distributed  in  every  day  hard  commercial 

service  at  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  eighteen  (218)  miles  from  its  point  of  generation. 


The   Power   Plants  of  the   Pacific   Coast 


By   F.  A.   C.   Perrlne,   D.  Sc. 


An  overhead  cableway  is  the  only  means 
of  crossing  the  Yuba  at  the  power-house ; 
the  blow-off  from  the  impulse  wheels  fur- 
nishes the  background. 


frontiers  are  always  and  have  ever  been 
places  where  men  thought  and  used  their 
hands  and  brains  to  accomplish  work  not 
easy  and  almost  incredible  to  the  man 
bred  under  the  influences  of  life  made  easy 
by  machinery. 

This  is  no  less  true  in  the  frontiers  of 
history  and  thought  than  in  the  frontiers  of 
country  and  civilization. 

The  civilized  Egyptians  were  frontiers- 
men in  engineering,  and  accomplished  buildings  and  pyramids  which  are 
our  wonder,  for  though  to-day  their  buildings  would  be  expensive,  without 
being  difficult,  it  is  our  wonder  that  any  race  of  men  should  have  undertaken 
tasks  so  great.  Greece  built  for  all  time  for  the  reason  that  though  she  had 
thinkers  who  were  creative,  she  had  no  repair  shops,  and  she  was  willing,  as  we 
are  not,  to  build  so  that  when  one  piece  of  work  was  done,  no  one  need  worry 
over  its  care,  but  all  devote  their  energies  to  planning  and  building  better  and 
greater.  So  in  the  history  of  our  Pacific  Coast.  Capt.  Lewis,  a  man  of  brain 
and  metal,  and  Lieut.  Clark,  a  man  of  no  less  brain  or  metal,  but  lacking 
what  we  call  education,  with  forty-five  men  of  like  courage,  stemmed  the 
Missouri,  crossed  the  mountains,  sailed  down  the  Columbia  to  its  mouth  on 
an  expedition  of  pure  scientific  discovery,  and  returning,  left  in  the  archives 
of  our  Government  a  report  which  for  accuracy  of  scientific  observation  and 
fullness  of  detail  has  not  since  been  excelled. 

The  spirit  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  and  of  Fremont  and  Hayden,  whose 
three  expeditions  opened  the  whole  Coast,  pervades  the  country  they  dis- 
covered. The  very  soil  seems  to  have  taken  from  these  men  a  principle 
which  has  made  it  capable  of  nourishing  men  of  courage  and  resource. 

In  nothing  is  this  made  more  evident  than  in  the  character  of  the  elec- 
trical undertakings  on  the  entire  length  of  the  Pacific  Coast. 


Power  Plants  of 


the  Pacific  Coast 


Flume  Tender's  Cabin  on  the 
Colgate  Flume 


Spillway  or  Overflow  Drain 
from  the  Colgate  Flume 


The  center  picture  is  a  point  on  the  Colgate  Flume  known  as  Cape  Horn,  and  illustrates  some  of  the  difficulties 

encountered  and  successfully  engineered 

To  emphasize  this  I  need  but  call  to  your  minds  that  for  the  past 
twenty  years  in  the  history  of  electrical  engineering  there  has  not  been  a 
time  during  which,  remarkable  work  on  the  Pacific  Coast  has  not  attracted 
attention. 

In  San  Francisco  was  one  of  the  first  lighting  companies,  and  one  of  the 
very  first  attempts  by  a  public  lighting  company  to  light  a  large  city  on  a 
comprehensive  plan. 

Power  transmission  at  constant  current  was  first  used  on  the  Coast, 
where  not  only  a  io,ooovolt  motor  circuit  was  installed  in  San  Francisco, 
but  long-distance  transmission  was  also  actually  performed  in  the  mines 

with  as  much  success  as  attended 
electrical  machinery  anywhere 
at  the  time,  and  the  failure,  as 
far  as  it  was  a  failure,  was 
due  to  the  faults  of  design  and 
manufacture  of  that  day,  while 
attempting  problems  which  ad- 
mitted no  failure  in  their  solution. 
Men's  lives,  as  well  as  the  finan- 
cial success  of  such  undertakings, 
depend  on  absolute  continuity 
in  mining  operations.  Later  on 


The  interior  of  the  Colgate  Flume  measures  S}4   by  6  feet, 
and  the  grade  is  9  feet  to  the  mile 


long-distance  single-phase  alter- 


Power  Plants  of 


At  times  of  light  load  portions  of  the  stream  shoot  out  into  the  river  without  striking  the  buckets  of  the 
impulse  wheels.  No  attempt  is  made  to  "  control "  the  flow  of  water  by  the  governing  apparatus,  and  some- 
times the  stream  reaches  clear  across  the  canon. 


nating  lighting  was  installed  at  Pomona  in  Southern  California,  and  single- 
phase  power  transmission  at  Bodie. 

Walla  Walla,  Washington,  saw  one  of  the  first  single-phase  power 
transmission  plants,  and  the  plant  at  Redlands  proved  first  the  success  of 
multiphase  working.  Nevada  City  first  proved  the  commercial  success  of 
transmission  to  the  mines  and  mine  working. 

The  installation  of  the  Folsom  and  Portland  plants  are  not  yet 
forgotten,  and  finally  we  have  the  remarkable  installations  at  Snoqualmie 
Falls,  Washington,  the  Southern  California  33,ooo-volt,  83-mile  transmission, 
the  Bay  Counties  with  1 44-mile  transmission,  and  the  Standard  Electric 
Company,  part  of  whose  154  miles  of  transmission,  being  used  in  connection 
with  the  Bay  Counties  plant,  enables  that  Company  to  hold  the  magnificent 
record  of  an  actual  every  day  transmission  of  over  220  miles. 

We  then  see  that  the  notable  work  on  the  Pacific  Coast  is  not  confined 
to  the  last  few  years  or  to  any  particular  locality  ;  from  the  north  to  the 
south,  plants  are  scattered  which  merit  attention  and  study,  particularly  to 
many  of  us  who  are  not  familiar  with  any  work  at  all  similar. 

Among  the  plants  themselves  perhaps  no  one  has  attracted  more 
attention  or  excited  more  discussion  than  the  remarkable  one  at  Snoqualmie 
Falls.  Certainly  no  plant  has  a  more  remarkable  or  beautiful  situation. 
The  railroad  itself  which  leads  to  this  place  startles  one  as  it  climbs  into  the 


the  Pacific  Coast 


to 

IS 


tc 


Power  Plants  of 


Supporting  Insulators  of  the  Great 
Carquinez  Span 


The  Four  Anchorages  of  the 
Span  Cables 


One  of  the  Strain  Insulators,  each 
Housed  Separately 


Cascade  Mountains,  by  its  curves  and  trestles  and  trestles  with  curves 
combined.  Finally  the  little  power  town  with  its  brilliant  lights  in  their 
setting  of  river,  gorge  and  high  water-fall  and  magnificent  spruce  forest  is 
reached  and  one  is  startled  by  the  beauty  of  the  setting. 

The  lights  of  the  town  and  wires  of  the  lines  are  evident,  but  no  power- 
house, for  here  they  have  adopted  the  startling  plan  of  excavating  a  cavern 
for  the  power-house  within  the  very  rock 
over  which  the  falls  plunge.  To  reach  it 
you  enter  a  little  cabin  near  the  forebay 
and  are  lowered  by  an  elevator  down  the 
shaft,  which  also  accommodates  the  pen- 
stock, and  250  feet  below  the  surface  reach 
the  machine  room  where  are  located  six 
1 50o-kilowatt  generators  in  a  large  white- 
washed cavern  cut  out  of  the  solid 
granite  rock.  Unfortunately,  the  history 
of  this  plant  has  been  marred  by  discus- 
sion and  gossip  over  a  ridiculous  design  of 
water-wheel  at  first  adopted.  But,  as  at 
present  equipped,  this  plant  is  giving 
successful  and  continuous  service. 

The  plant  is  located  as  it  is  for  the 
reasoBi  that  the  spray  from  the  falls  would 
have  made  impracticable  any  power-house  The  Leaning  Tower  of  the  Carquinez  span 


the  Pacific  Coast 


at  their  foot,  and  to  have  gone  further 
down  the  river  would  have  necessitated 
a  location  around  a  bend  to  which  a 
channel  must  have  been  cut  at  an 
expense  probably  greater  than  that  for 
the  present  work.  This  plant  disputes 
with  the  Standard  Electric  Company 
of  California  the  honor  of  being 
first  to  use  aluminum  for  transmission 
lines.  The  lines  were  erected  at 
about  the  same  time,  but  those  of  the 
Standard  Company  were  the  first  to  be 
put  into  service,  and  being  more  care- 
fully strung  were  the  more  successful 
from  the  start.  Probably  no  mountain 


Redwood  City  Sub-station  and  River  Crossing 


lines  have  cost  more  for  rights  of  way  than  those  from  this  plant,  for  not  only 
do  they  surmount  difficult  mountains,  but  they  lead  through  continuous 
forests  of  dense  spruce  and  fir  of  great  size,  which  are  all  carefully  cleared 
away  against  the  possibility  of  their  falling  and  interrupting  the  service. 

Power  is  transmitted 
at  60  cycles  to  the  cities 
of  Seattle  and  Tacoma, 
where  lights  and  rail- 
ways are  operated.  In 
Seattle,  rotary  transfor- 
mers are  used  for  the 
conversion,  but  in  Ta- 
coma motor -generator 
sets  are  employed  and 
regulation  obtained  by 
a  combination  of  syn- 
chronous and  induction 
motors.  Much  of  the 

An  Angle  in  One  of  the  High  Tension  Lines  COinplaint  and  Criticism 


Power  Plants  of 


High  Tension  Line  Construction.     The  center  picture  is  of  a  Standard  Company  cable  stringing  cart 

of  this  plant  seems  to  have  been  due  to  the  apparent  fact  that  there  is 
little  harmony  between  the  seller  and  the  largest  users  of  power,  and  both 
the  large  companies  at  Seattle  and  at  Tacoma  are  at  present  installing  some 
steam  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  at  no  other  point  on  the  Coast  is  power  sold  at 
a  lower  rate,  and  that  the  difficulties  with  regulation  and  general  service  from 
the  plant  are  largely  chargeable  to  the  attitude  of  the  users  of  the  power 
themselves. 

As  regards  the  plant  itself  one  feels  compelled  to  admire  the  boldness 
and  adaptability  of  the  scheme. 

Of  course  as  one  descends  on  the  elevator  into  the  cavern  below  the  falls, 
the  fear  of  something  new  and  untried  overcomes  him  and  the  strangeness 
of  the  plan  warps  his  judgment,  but  let  me  assure  you  that  there  is  much 
more  to  admire  and  much  less  to*  criticise  about  this  remarkable  plant  than 
is  commonly  assumed  by  those  who  have  not  seen  it. 

Turning  now  southward  along  the  Coast,  we  come  to  the  Portland 
plant;  remarkable  not  for  its  solution  of  a  problem  of  cloudlike  spray  and 
great  water  pressure,  but  one  equally  difficult  of  a  great  volume  of  water  with 
severely  varying  head. 

Wherever  we  go  on  the  Pacific  Coast  there  are  seasons  of  no  super- 
abundance of  water,  and  in  every  plant  there  are  times  when  efficiency  must 
be  looked  to  most  sharply  and  for  which  the  location  of  the  wheels  and  their 
hydraulic  connection  be  chosen.  In  this  particular  case  the  wheels  proper 
for  the  minimum  flow  of  water  had  to  be  located  much  below  the  surface  of 
the  maximum  high-water,  and  furthermore,  at  the  seasons  of  the  great  floods 
these  falls  become  an  almost  insignificant  rapid,  for  the  reason  that  at  this 


the  Pacific  Coast 


The  up-hill  work  is  not  easy 


The  end  pictures  represent  respectively  one  of  the  mountain  carts  loaded  with  a  section  of  armature,  and  the 
same  armature  in  place  to  be  snubbed  down  the  power-house  hill 

point  the  river  is  confined  between  narrow  rocky  walls  which  allow  no  over- 
flooded  country  below  the  falls. 

It  is  quite  obvious  that  no  water  wheel  can  be  designed  capable  of 
operation  at  full  load  and  full  speed  with  its  normal  head  reduced  from  60  to 
So  per  cent,  and,  in  consequence,  large  auxiliary  wheels  are  provided,  arranged 
for  belting  to  the  shafts  of  the  high  head  wheels,  and  in  order  that  the  high 
water  may  not  flood  generators,  belting  and  bearings,  the  building  is  made 
water-tight  from  its  foundations  to  3  feet  above  the  machine  floor,  and  the 
lighting  of  the  wheel  pits  and  belting  space  provided  by  regular  marine  water- 
tight screw  port  holes.  The  armatures  of  the  generators  are  attached  to  the 
vertical  shafts  of  the  high  head  wheels,  and  while  in  general  appearance  these 
machines  remind  one  of  the  Niagara  machines,  they  are  essentially  different 
in  revolving  an  internal  armature  in  place  of  an  external  field.  No  attempt 
at  parallel  running  is  made  here,  but  each  generator  feeds  an  independent 


The  end  of  the  Flume  or  Penstock.      From 

here  five  lines  of  pipe,  each  1500  feet 

long,  lead  down  to  the  power-house. 

The  vertical  fall  is  over  700  feet 


The  headgates  are  situated  on  top  of  the 

Penstock,   from   which   point   a 

glorious  view  is  obtained 


The  center  picture  illustrates  the  method  of  anchoring  the  pipes  in  massive  concrete  piers 


Power  Plants  of 


line  and  supplies  an  independent  service,  some  being  employed  in  lighting 
and  some  in  driving  rotary  converters  or  synchronous  motors — no  more  than 
one  machine  being  coupled  to  any  one  generator.  The  original  transformer 
equipment  consists  of  banks  of  small  units,  and  in  spite  of  the  complexity  of 
the  system  as  a  whole,  the  original  equipment  is  still  in  service.  Indeed,  it 
is  remarkable  and  interesting  to  hear  the  engineer  whose  days  have  been 
made  full  and  whose  nights  have  been  made  sleepless  by  this  complex  plant, 
declare  that  from  his  experience  the  best  plant  is  one  of  independent  gener- 
ators and  motors,  and  to  hear  him  speak  of  machines  with  high  inductance 
and  almost  no  regulation  to  mention,  as  being  in  all  respects  the  best  adapted 
to  continuous  service,  while  to  one  familiar  with  more  modern  plants  there  is 
nothing  so  remarkable  about  the  installation  as  the  energy  of  this  man  who 


Interior  of  the  Mission  San  Jose  Switching  Station 


the  Pacific  Coast 


keeps  it  all  running  and  giving  satisfactory 
service.  Mr.  Thompson  is  the  true  pioneer 
operator  of  a  pioneer  transmission  plant. 

As  we  move  southward  into  Califor- 
nia, the  power  plants  begin  to  multiply, 
and  connected  with  every  one  is  some- 
thing, generally,  much  of  interest.  Many 

have     historical     importance,    though    mOSt      ^witching  Station  and  Lightning  Arrester  House 

at  Mission  San  Jose 

have    long    ceased    to    attract    particular 

attention.  The  traveler  in  the  mountains  finds,  far  away  from  any  appear- 
ance of  civilization,  a  well-kept  canal,  or  ditch,  as  these  pioneer  engineers 
would  call  it,  and  following  it  for  a  few  miles,  a  low,  constant,  not  unmusical 
note  reaches  his  ear,  and  he  knows  that  beneath  his  feet  along;  the  river 

O 

bank  lies  one  of  those  power  plants,  ceaselessly  generating  current  to  be 
used  in  the  neighboring  mines  or  the  distant  cities.  Throughout  the 
center  of  the  State  a  constant  type  of  plant  prevails,  and  it  will  be  of  more 
interest  to  confine  our  attention  to  two  most  remarkable  recent  plants  than 

to  attempt  to  mention  the  many. 
The  type  of  plant  to  which  we 
refer  is  that  of  one  supplied  with 
water  in  a  ditch  varying  from  5  to 
50  miles  in  length,  producing,  by 
its  combination  of  the  rapids  along 
the  river,  a  head  of  from  300  to 
1500  feet,  which  is  utilized  with 
impulse  wheels  running  at  a  high 
speed  and  direct  connected  to 
generators.  These  feed  step -up 
transformers  and  the  high-voltage 
current  is  transmitted  for  use  over 
distances  of  from  5  to  200  miles 
and  more. 

The    two    central     California 
plants  to  which  I  wish  particularly 


One  of  the  Banks  of  Lightning  Arresters  at  the  Mission 
San  Jose  Station 


Power  Plants  of 


A  i2O,ooo-volt  Arc  between  the  Needle  Points  of  a  Spark  Gap  in  the  Testing  Room  at  Electra 

to  direct  attention  at  present  are  the  plants  of  the  Standard  Electric  Company 
and  the  Bay  Counties  Power  Company.  Both  of  these  plants  are  great  and 
long-distance  extensions  of  small  undertakings,  though  the  growth  of  the 
Standard  Company's  plant  is  the  more  notable  and  worthy  of  the  greatest 
attention  for  the  reason  that  this  plant  was  more  original  in  its  conception 
and  the  more  remarkable  in  the  manner  in  which  that  conception  has  been 
carried  out. 

The  Bay  Counties  Power  Company  is  a  growth  from  two  small  plants 
within  30  miles  of  each  other,  situated  in  the  Sierra  Mountains,  the  original 
of  the  two  being  the  plant  of  the  Nevada  County  Power  Company  supplying 
Nevada  City  and  its  neighboring  towns,  which  is  really  remarkable  on  account 
of  the  fact  that  it  was  one  of  the  first,  if  not  the  very  first  plant  in  California 

entirely  successful  as  a  financial 
undertaking,  and  one  which 
from  its  original  period  of  oper- 
ation, successfully  carried  out 
the  difficult  undertaking  of  sup- 
plying mines  with  power.  The 
other  part  of  the  Bay  Counties 
Company  was  originally  more 
moderate  as  an  undertaking  but 

O 

has  grown  to  be  the  more  im- 
portant side  of  the  business. 
This  company  was  the  Yuba 
Power  Company,  using  a  fall  in 
one  of  the  irrigating  ditches  and 


High  Potential  Testing  Outfit  at  Electra.     Every  insulator 
must  withstand  a  strain  of  1 20,000  volts 


the  Pacific  Coast 


returning  its  tail  water  to  the  ditch  for  further  distribution   in    irrigation. 

o  t> 

From  these  beginnings,  the  Bay  Counties  Power  Company  has  grown  by 
reaching  out  after  business  wherever  it  was  offered  and  developing  water 
powers  wherever  they  were  reasonably  available  for  such  purposes,  and  the 
success  which  attended  the  original  elements  of  this  company  has  been  con- 
tinued during  its  entire  growth. 

O  O 

The  Standard  Electric  Company  is  not  so  much  a  growth  as  an  achieve- 
ment. Thirty  years  ago  the  Blue  Lakes  Water  Company  was  incorporated 
for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  water  to  the  mines  in  Amador  County,  and  a 
ditch  system  considerably  in  excess  of  eighty  miles  in  length  was  constructed. 
For  many  years  the  company  was  very  prosperous,  but  with  the  decline  in 
mining  through  that  section  of  the  mother  lode  and  the  complete  extinction 
of  hydraulic  mining,  the  property  became  only  reasonably  profitable.  While 
the  company  was  in  this  condition  Prince  Andre  Poniatowski  came  to 
California  with  the  plan  of  taking  up  mining  properties  that  had  proven  to  be 
only  partially  successful,  developing  them,  and  so  forming  from  many  small 
and  unprofitable  mining  concerns,  one  large  and  prosperous.  Incidental  to 
this  plan  he  joined  the  Blue  Lakes  Water  Company  in  building  an  electric 
plant  on  the  Mokelumne  River,  where  a  head  of  1000  feet  was  available,  and 


The  i2O,ooo-volt  Arc  Just  Before  Rupturing 


distributing  power  to  his  mines  with  the 
idea  of  cheapening  their  cost  of  operation. 
A  plant  was  installed  and  successfully 
operated,  but  as  Prince  Poniatowski  be- 
came more  familiar  with  power  operations 
in  California  and  the  condition  of  mining 
in  the  mother  lode,  he  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  a  great  power  plant  could  be 
formed  with  the  Blue  Lakes  Company  as 

Sub-station  a  nucleus.    Accordingly  he  purchased  the 

Blue    Lakes    Company    and    formed    the 

Standard  Electric  Company  of  California,  which  company  announced  its 
intention  of  transmitting  power  to  the  City  of  San  Francisco,  a  distance  then 
estimated  at  1 10  miles.  The  plan  was  a  bold  one  and  has  been  boldly  carried 


Interior  oi  Temescal 


the  Pacific  Coast 


The  left-hand  picture  shows  a  transformer  being  loaded  into  a  mountain  wagon.     The  right-hand  picture  is 
of  the  same  outfit  showing  the  mules  ready  to  start 

out,  without  at  any  time,  during  the  development  of  the  scheme,  ideas  less  than 
practical  being  allowed  to  prevail  in  the  councils  of  the  company.  Previous 
to  the  issuance  of  the  specifications  for  the  machinery  the  best  engineers  of 
the  country  were  consulted  in  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  the  work 
was  to  be  done,  and  nothing  incorporated  in  these  specifications  not 
then  considered  feasible  by  a  number  of  the  best  engineers.  Indeed, 
the  boldest  thing  about  this  problem,  namely  the  operation  at  about 
50,000  volts,  was  proposed  by  the  Stanley  Electric  Manufacturing  Company 
of  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  as  manufacturers,  and  the  contract  let  them  on  account 

of  the  saving  they  were  willing  to  guaran- 
tee above  the  Standard  Company's  engi- 
neers' estimates,  made  possible  by  the 
increased  voltages  they  would  undertake 

to  operate.  This 
company  has  now 
been  building  its 
plant  for  about  four 


The  upper  left-hand  picture  is  of  the  ditch  under 
construction.  The  lower  right-hand  picture  is  of  one 
completed.  The  center  view  is  of  a  point  where  cutting 
through  solid  rock  was  necessary. 


Power  Plants  of 


Construction  Work.     The  end  views  are  of  work  on  a  dam  210  feet  high.     That  in  the  center  illustrates 
hydraulic  excavation  for  the  Electra  power-house 

years  and  will  continue  to  build  without  supplying  power  until  it  is  satisfied 
that  the  work  is  done,  and  so  thoroughly  done  that  there  can  be  no  question 
as  to  the  continuity  of  the  service.  In  the  first  place  storage  reservoirs  in 
the  high  Sierras  have  been  provided  for  an  estimated  storage  of  water 
amounting  to  150  days — equal  to  the  maximum  dry  period  the  records  of  the 
State  can  show  are  to  be  anticipated.  These  reservoirs,  situated  at  elevations 
varying  from  6000  to  8000  feet  above  sea  level,  in  Alpine  County,  where  there 
are  only  eighty  inhabitants,  exclusive  of  Indians,  are  provided  with  dams  built 
in  a  most  thorough  manner  and  cared  for  most  regularly.  From  these  reser- 
voirs the  water  is  allowed  to  flow  down  fifty  miles  of  the  channel  of  the  river 

to  the  diverting  dam  near  the 
West  Point  Bridge,  where  it 
is  taken  out  of  the  river  and 
carried  along  in  a  ditch  about 
25  feet  wide  and  5  feet  deep 
to  the  crest  of  a  hill  above 
the  power  plant,  from  which  a 
wood  stave  pipe  line  3000  feet 
long  leads  to  where  a  sheer 
descent  can  be  made  to  the 
power  plant  itself,  which  is 

This  is  an  illustration  of  the  construction  of  Lake  Francis  Supplied     by     a     head     of      I45O 

dam.     The  dirt,  instead  of  being  conveyed  in  the  usual  manner,  ,.                .   ,            . 

was  "  washed "  to  its  destination.     A  pipe,  containing  a  line  of  ICCt    With    a    length    OI     pipe    of 

perforations,  located   on  falsework  above  the  site  of  the  dam,  , 

was  made  to  receive  a  mixture  of  dirt  and  water  and  the  latter  Only  about  3600  feet.  It  Can 
allowed  to  ooze  through  the  perforations  until  the  filling-in  was 

completed.  readily  be  seen  that  the  flow  of 


the  Pacific  Coast 


water  in  twenty  miles  of  ditch  cannot  be  regulated  to  suit  the  variation  in  load 
likely  to  be  experienced  by  the  plant,  and  in  order  that  the  ditch  may  be  used 
with  a  constant  flow,  a  reservoir  is  provided  into  which  any  surplus  of  water 
that  may  be  flowing  above  that  demanded  by  the  load  can  be  retained  until  a 
peak  load  period  is  reached,  when  the  surplus  above  the  ditch  capacity  is  sup- 
plied from  the  reservoir.  With  a  hill  so  steep,  down  which  the  pipe  line  is  laid, 
it  can  be  readily  seen  that  no  reservoir  site  is  available  between  the  plant  and 
the  ditch.  Accordingly  a  bold  plan  is  adopted  of  storing  the  water  in  a  valley 
across  the  mountain  from  the  power-house  and  leading  the  water  back  to  the 
power-house  side  of  the  mountain  through  a  tunnel  about  3000  feet  in  length. 
For  the  best  efficiency  the  wheels  must  run  at  half  the  spouting  velocity 
of  the  water,  which  in  this  case  is  as  high  as  18,000  feet  per  minute.  In 
other  words,  the  peripheral  speed  of  these  water  wheels  amounts  to  9000  feet 
per  minute.  They  are  1 1  feet  in  diameter  and  run  at  240  turns.  Two 
wheels  each  of  1000  kilowatts  capacity  are  attached  to  each  generator  and 
five  sets  of  wheels  and  generators  are  installed.  From  the  powrer-house  the 
lines  lead  through  hill  and  dale  through  the  city  of  Stockton  on  to  the  little 


The  Interior  of  Electra.     The  machines  are  placed  diagonally  in  order  to  minimize  the  angle 
in  the  pipes  bringing  the  water  under  1 500  feet  head 


Power  Plants  of 


town  of  Mission  San  Jose  along  the  shores  of  San  Francisco  Bay,  a  distance 
of  100  miles  from  the  power  plant.  At  this  point  the  lines  diverge  north 
and  south  and  are  here  controlled  as  a  center  of  distribution  for  the  system. 
Thence  they  run  north  about  28  miles  to  Oakland  and  south  to  San  Jose, 
around  the  Bay  and  up  to  the  north  to  San  Francisco,  making  a  total  trans- 
mission distance  of  154  miles — 34  miles  farther  than  was  originally  contem- 
plated, for  the  reason  that  originally  it  was  intended  to  cross  the  hills  direct 
to  Oakland  and  cross  the  Bay  direct  to  San  Francisco,  but  permission  could 
not  be  obtained  from  the  Government  to  erect  poles  and  cross  the  lo-mile 
stretch  of  navigable  water  between  Oakland  and  San  Francisco,  whereas  the 
expense  of  submarine  cables  would  have  amounted  to  as  much  as  the 
remaining  expense  of  the  entire  line.  The  change  in  the  distance  and  the 
lengthening  of  the  line  being  made  further  justifiable  by  the  fact  that  all 
around  the  Bay  are  towns  large  and  small,  which  form  satisfactory  customers 
for  the  power.  The  plant  is  now  nearing  completion,  but  as  I  have  already 
;said,  these  men  who  have  invested  in  the  Standard  Electric  Company  have 
faith  enough  in  the  engineering  that  they  are  doing  to  be  so  sure  of  success 
that  they  are  unwilling  to  experiment  with  their  customers,  and  only  enter 
upon  their  period  of  regular  operation  after  they  have  satisfied  themselves 
with  their  plans  and  their  construction  work.  In  Oakland,  San  Jose  and 
San  Francisco  they  have  added  as  an  additional  safeguard  against  inter- 
ruption of  service  storage  battery  plants,  and  have  installed  for  charging 


Part  of  the  Lightning  Arrester  Equipment 
at  Electra 


The  Switchroom  at  Electra — the  6o,ooo-volt  Switches 
May  be  Observed  on  both  Sides  of  the  Room 


the  Pacific  Coast 


Another  View  of  the  Interior  of  Klectra  Power-house 


these  motor-generator  sets  capable  of  being  used  in  such  a  manner  that 
should  accident  occur  along  the  line,  both  the  alternating-current  and  direct- 
current  service  can  be  maintained  by  means  of  the  batteries.  This  company 
is  entitled  to  much  of  the  credit  for  the  exceedingly  long-distance  trans- 
missions on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  'while  it  may  be  unfortunate  for  their 
immediate  glory  that  other  plants  are  in  operation  before  theirs  is  ready, 
their  customers  in  later  years  will  have  reason  to  thank  them  for  the  care 
with  which  they  have  taken  every  step.  Since  their  plans  were  laid  out  and 
the  work  begun,  the  Bay  Counties  Company  found  that  they  could  make 
a  contract  with  the  Folsom  Company  who  supply  Sacramento  and 
whose  plant  was  deficient  in  capacity.  Accordingly  they  built  to  that 
city  a  line  60  miles  in  length  which  they  operate  at  40,000  volts, 
supplying  current  in  conjunction  with  the  10,000- volt  plant  20  miles  away 
at  Folsom.  The  two  plants,  one  at  Colgate,  60  miles  from  Sacramento^. 


operating  in  parallel  with  the  Folsom  plant  20  miles  from  Sacramento. 
Later  on  the  Bay  Counties  Company  built,  and  is  now  operating,  a  line  152 
miles  in  length  from  their  plant  to  the  City  of  Oakland.  To  reach  this  city 
they  had  to  cross  the  navigable  straits  of  Carquinez,  through  which  the  deep- 
water  grain  ships  go  from  San  Francisco  Bay  to  the  principal  coast  grain 
shipping  port  of  Porta  Costa.  Fortunately  these  straits  are  bordered  with 
high  hills.  At  these  hills  they  erected  towers  and  stretched  their  cables  with 
a  span  exceeding  4000  feet,  effecting  one  of  the  most  remarkable  feats 
that  has  ever  been  attempted  in  long-distance  power  transmission.  As  the 
sub-stations  and  lines  to  this  point  belonging  to  the  Standard  Electric 
Company  were  ready  for  operation,  this  company  has  bought  a  large  amount 
of  power  from  the  Bay  Counties  Power  Company,  which  they  transmit  south 
to  Mission  San  Jose  and  thence  to  Stockton,  San  Jose  and  up  around  the 
Bay  as  far  as  Redwood  City,  effecting  a  total  transmission  for  the  Bay 
Counties  Company  of  198  miles  to  San  Jose,  200  miles  to  Redwood  City,  and 
218  miles  to  Stockton.  These  distances  are  met  successfully  in  every  day 
working,  and  the  interruptions  in  supply  have  at  no  time  been  serious,  nor 
has  there  at  any  time  been  any  reason  to  feel  that  the  work  is  at  all  of  an 
experimental  character.  Up  at  Colgate  their  generators  run  day  and  night 
supplying  power  to  these  distant  points  with  the  result  that  the  company  is 
successful,  not  only  from  an  engineering  point  of  view,  but  financially 
successful  with  the  success  that  has  given  confidence  and  strength  to  all 


The  Electra  Power-house  is  on  the  Bank 
of  the  Mokelumne 


Another  View  of  the  Electra  Power-house  with  the  Hotel 

Standard  in  the  Distance.     The  1 500  foot  drop  in  the 

pipe  line  can  also  be  observed  in  the  distance 


the  Pacific  Coast 


An  Interior  View  of  Colgate,  showing  the  Electric  Generators  and  Turbine  Casings  on  the  Right 

and  the  Transformers  on  the  Left 

electrical  transmission  securities  along  the  Pacific  Coast.  These  plants 
operate  lights,  mines,  railroads,  flour  mills,  and  in  every  operation  have  given 
such  service  to  their  customers  that  in  spite  of  the  fact  of  recent  discoveries 
of  large  quantities  of  fuel  oil,  their  only  difficulty  is  to  find  enough  power  to 
supply  the  demand  made  upon  them. 

I  might  go  further  and  describe  the  power  plant  of  the  Big  Creek 
Company,  whose  lines  run  along  the  seashore  and  operate  almost  continu- 
ously in  a  sea  of  fog,  or  that  of  the  Fresno  Company,  which  was  the  first 
with  the  exception  of  that  at  the  Chollar  Mine  at  Virginia  City  to  operate  at 
a  head  exceeding  one  thousand  feet,  or  to  give  a  description  of  the  plant  at 
Bakersfield,  where  electric  power  is  preferred  to  a  ditch  system  for  irrigation, 
but  in  describing  these  plants  I  would  only  be  repeating  what  has  been 
said  concerning  them,  or  repeat  descriptions,  which,  on  a  larger  scale, 


would  apply  to  the  two  plants  that  have  just  been  mentioned.  Instead 
of  going  over  these  in  detail  I  prefer  finally  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
collection  of  plants  feeding  into  the  city  of  Los  Angeles.  In  this  region 
were  the  first  really  long-distance  transmission  plants,  that  at  Pomona,  a 
single-phase  lighting  plant  where  the  power  for  lighting  was  transmitted  a 
distance  of  28  miles  at  10,000  volts.  From  this  beginning,  one  plant  after 
another  has  been  installed,  until  finally  in  1898  the  plant  of  the  Southern 
California  Electric  Company  was  built  with  a  transmission  of  80  miles  at 
33,000  volts.  Shortly  after  this  plant  was  constructed  a  consolidation  of 
interests  centering  in  Los  Angeles  was  made,  and  now  there  is  there  daily 
effected  parallel  running  to  a  most  remarkable  extent.  Alternators  of  both 
revolving  field  and  revolving  armature  types  and  of  different  makes  are 
running  in  parallel  and  supplying  together  power  for  railroads  and  lights  in 
conjunction  with  steam-driven  plants  without  a  thought  of  such  troubles  as 
are  supposed  to  come  from  the  coupling  in  parallel  of  steam  engines  or  of 
engines  with  water  wheels,  and  yet  there  is  nothing  that  has  been  done  to 
effect  this  successful  operation  which  can  be  considered  remarkable  for 
ingenuity ;  simply  the  plants  have  been  well  engineered,  well  installed  and 
are  well  operated.  After  all,  this  sums  up  everything  that  has  at  all  attracted 
your  attention  in  connection  with  work  I  have  been  describing.  The 
problems  of  the  Pacific  Coast  are  problems  for  the  trained  engineer.  No 
rule  of  thumb  principles  is  applicable.  The  men  encountering  these 
problems  must  be  and  have  been  men  with  independent  minds — men  capable 
of  realizing  the  difficulties  and  not  frightened  by  them.  They  are  frontiers- 
men, undaunted,  unafraid  and  resourceful. 


One  of  the  Lakes  in  Alpine  County  Con- 
stituting Part  of  the  Standard 
Company's  Reservoir 


The  Hotel  Standard  at  F.lectra  for  the 

Engineers   and    Attendants 

of  the  Power-house 


The  Standard  Company's  High-pressure  Pipe  Line 


Arranged   by    Ray    D.  Lillibridge  and  printed  by 
Bartlett  &  Company — The  Orr  Press,  New  York 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


